According to The Hollywood Reporter, Rocky legend Sylvester Stallone almost got Batgirl’s villain part, before he was replaced by Brendan Fraser.
Initial reports coming fresh from Fraser’s casting said Leslie Grace’s Barbara Gordon would face Firefly, a popular Batman’s rogue gallery member. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the role may have changed at one point, with Stallone being initially cast to play the role of Carmine Falcone, one of the prominent mob leaders that torment Gotham City.
Although we are all trying to figure out what Batgirl is all about, every news should be taken with a grain of salt. That’s because Batgirl will be the first live-action DC project to come exclusively to HBO Max, and WarnerMedia is still testing the waters to release more new DC films focusing on lesser-known characters on the platform. So, until we get our hands on some official information, we cannot know for sure which villains are involved in the film. However, it would be nice to see both Falcone and Firefly on Batgirl.
Batgirl is directed by AdilEl Arbi and Bilall Fallah, from a script by Christina Hodson, who has previously written Birds of Prey and the upcoming The Flash. While there’s no official information about the movie’s plot, J.K. Simmons is in negotiations to return as Commissioner James Gordon, a part he played in both versions of Justice League. Simmons casting discussions might indicate Batgirl is somehow connected to the Snyderverse and Ben Affleck’s version of Batman. The Dark Knight will come back to theaters on March 4, 2022, with Matt Reeves’ The Batman, in which Robert Pattinson will take on the cowl and cape.
Batgirl doesn’t have a release date yet, but the movie should be available in 2022.